DRINKING WATER
How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Transforming Water Loss Management For Utilities
AI is reshaping water loss management by turning complex utility data into clearer priorities, faster insights, and more proactive decision-making—without replacing the people responsible for running the system.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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![Bottles]( "How pH Standards Impact The Accuracy Of Water Quality Measurements")
How pH Standards Impact The Accuracy Of Water Quality MeasurementsWhen it comes to pH measurement in water and wastewater treatment, there are two focal points for the word ‘standard’ — one is a compliance-related state or federal water quality specification; the other is a specific fluid used as a calibration reference point to ensure pH instrumentation accuracy. Here is why both are important and how they affect the best pH measurement outcomes in both areas.
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![iStock-155319985.jpg]( "Cost-Effective Telemetry For Agricultural Applications")
Cost-Effective Telemetry For Agricultural ApplicationsImplementing telemetry — the ability to transmit flow meter readings — allows water managers in irrigation districts and small rural systems to work smarter, not harder, by aggregating critical, real-time flow information. Until recently, telemetry was expensive and plagued with problems. However, advanced technology offers an ideal solution.
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The City Of Baxter Minnesota Installs And Starts‐Up An 800 Pound‐Per‐Day Microclor® On‐Site Hypochlorite System In Three Days
The City of Baxter, located in central Minnesota, has always endeavored to deliver superior and reliable service to their customer base with a strong dose of selfreliance.
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![DavidDrake]( "The History Of Water Infrastructure And What We Can Learn From It")
The History Of Water Infrastructure And What We Can Learn From ItThis article is in support of the Imagine a Day Without Water campaign –- a national online movement to raise awareness about the value of water and water infrastructure. See more articles on AMERICAN’s Imagine a Day Without Water home page.
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Encore® 700 Chemical Feed Pump Provides Reliable Metering With Minimal Maintenance For Over A Decade At One Of New York's Largest Water Districts
Jericho Water District (JWD) is one of the largest water districts in New York, serving 58,000 people through 18,604 residential and commercial service connections on Long Island.
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![Business decision-right-wrongGettyImages-1321122357]( "How Does Operation And Maintenance Of Activated Carbon Compare To Ion Exchange Technology?")
How Does Operation And Maintenance Of Activated Carbon Compare To Ion Exchange Technology?Water treatment plants (WTPs) that deciding between ion exchange (IX) or granular activated carbon (GAC) systems should weigh the operation and maintenance of each before implementing either technology.
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![LargeV-Cone]( "Not All Differential Pressure Meters Are Created Equal")
Not All Differential Pressure Meters Are Created EqualDue to the dynamics of liquids and gases flowing through elbows, valves, pumps, and other pipeline structures, every flow-meter methodology has its own design limitations. Unlike Venturi meters, pitot tubes, orifice plates, and other devices, V-Cone meters provide highly accurate and reliable readings with minimal straight-pipe length restrictions and virtually no maintenance, in pipe sizes up to 120”.
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Municipal Water Reuse Done Right: Lessons In Efficiency
California water reuse program provides multiple benefits, serving as a model for other municipalities.
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![TSP341-N]( "High-Precision Non-Invasive Temperature Measurement")
High-Precision Non-Invasive Temperature MeasurementThis white paper presents ABB’s new TSP341-N temperature sensor for non-invasive temperature measurement and provides examples for applications and accuracies that can be achieved. The present Edition II of the whitepaper additionally presents the results of a direct comparison of non-invasive temperature measurements with classic measurements in a measuring medium, achieved in realistic conditions. These results emphasize the outstanding suitability of the device for multiple applications.
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![Insta-Valve 250 Helps Keep The Water On For Residents During COVID-19 Pandemic]( "Insta-Valve 250 Helps Keep The Water On For Residents During COVID-19 Pandemic")
Insta-Valve 250 Helps Keep The Water On For Residents During COVID-19 PandemicThe Insta-Valve 250 provided targeted shutdown without impacting service to customers.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Flexible Expansion Joints Provide Protection For Pipelines Subject To Subtle Or Sudden Movement12/7/2020
Flex-Tend flexible expansion joints have a proven record of providing protection for pipelines subject to subtle or sudden movement. As with all products used in the water and wastewater industry, protection is optimized with the selection of the proper assembly incorporated into a sound design. This paper is intended to provide assistance in both of these areas.
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Application Note: Continuous Monitoring Of Drinking Water Provides Assurance Of Safety9/28/2005A water utility in Ohio wanted to learn more about the variability of water quality parameters such as pH, ORP, turbidity, and chlorine. Previously, most of these parameters had been measured by spot sampling protocols with only a few measurements during a daily period. In order to more accurately assess the water variability, the utility used a YSI 6920DW Drinking Water Multiprobe
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Optimizing Brine Flow In A Geothermal Power Plant1/27/2022
Different flow meter technologies were used in this geothermal power plant to monitor and measure brine. However, these traditional technologies failed. That’s where Panametrics PT900 Portable Ultrasonic Flowmeter was able to help.
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Scrubber Application1/27/2022
This customer supplies district heating and electricity for the region of Sønderborg. For one of their waste applications a MAG meter failed within 6 months, and was successfully replaced with a Panametrics Aquatrans AT600.
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Remote Monitoring And Maintenance Through Digitalization3/17/2020
Siemens offers to our customers the ability to make both process measurements, and to remotely monitor the activity and health of instrumentation, whether you have a SCADA, PLC or DCS system, or not. By utilizing Siemens’ ability to offer unparalleled flow, level, pressure, temperature, and weight measurement we can provide a broad range of process measurements and offer unequaled monitoring of the health and performance of those products.
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Oxidation Reduction Potential10/29/2021
What is ORP? Oxidation Reduction Potential or Redox is the activity or strength of oxidizers and reducers in relation to their concentration. Oxidizers accept electrons, reducers lose electrons. Examples of oxidizers are: chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, bromine, ozone, and chlorine dioxide. Examples of reducers are sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfate and hydrogen sulfide. Like acidity and alkalinity, the increase of one is at the expense of the other.
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FLEX-TEND® Flexible Expansion Joints, Features And Specifications12/3/2020
FLEX-TEND® flexible expansion joints are designed to protect structures and pipelines from differential movement whether this movement is earthquake induced or the gradual motion of soil subsidence. This bulletin offers a concise listing and discussion of the important features and materials of the double and single ball assemblies.
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Dosing Of Sodium Hypochlorite Solution For Drinking Water Disinfection9/22/2022
A water purveyor was in urgent need of a chemically resistant flow instrumentation with a long life of service that allowed reliable and long-term stable dosing of the sodium hypochlorite solution.
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Temperature Monitoring For Water Treatment4/29/2024
Learn how to ensure compliance, monitor water temperature diligently, and implement robust measures to mitigate regulatory penalties.
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The Basics: Keeping Our Water Clean Requires Monitoring4/30/2014
Keeping the water in our lakes, rivers, and streams clean requires monitoring of water quality at many points as it gradually makes its way from its source to our oceans. Over the years ever increasing environmental concerns and regulations have heightened the need for increased diligence and tighter restrictions on wastewater quality.
DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS
The Myron L® Company’s Ultrameter II™ 6PFCE delivers benchtop lab-accurate measurements in one compact, easy-to-use, easy-to-calibrate handheld device.
The Aquana AVS AMI-Ready Valve is an IP68 rated remote disconnect ball valve designed to integrate with any existing AMI platform.
The Capital Controls Series 480 all-vacuum gas feeder is designed for direct mounting to a 150 pound gas cylinder or ton container. It is a basic alternative for those applications requiring a chlorine feed rate of 250 PPD (5 kg/h) or less.
A comprehensive solution for water quality testing with integrated data intelligence.
The Lmic is an easy-to-use, low-cost electronic listening stick combined with a ground microphone. It is ideal for general leak-sounding operations and can be fitted with either a tripod foot (for use as a ground microphone) or probe rods (for sounding at fittings or in the soft ground).
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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![Cutting Red Tape-GettyImages-502421630]( "How The NEPA Rollback Will Impact Water And Wastewater Industries")
The White House has finalized plans to roll back rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), narrowing its focus and limiting what the current administration claims are needless delays for federal approval of water, energy, and other infrastructure plans. For water and wastewater utilities, the changes could speed up permitting for critical projects, although experts warn the tradeoffs could do more harm than good. -
![Ultraviolet lamps for water disinfection-GettyImages-1271779123]( "Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation Facility")
Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation FacilityPortland's industry-leading facility reaches 100 reactor validations in 23 years.
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![Water analysis, purification, filtration, treatment, quality monitoring, contamination detection-GettyImages-2234293664]( "Why Haven't Field Tests For Lead In Water Gone Mainstream?")
Given the maturation of sensor technology, the scientific and operational hurdles to portable lead analysis are somewhat surprising — but surmountable.
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![peace-athabasca-delta-flood-mapping-265153]( "What Is Bathymetric Modeling? And How Can It Protect Ecosystems While Saving Resources?")
Bathymetric modeling maps underwater terrain. It also helps guide planning, prevent hazards, and build climate-resilient infrastructure.
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![Large datacenter-GettyImages-2196655358]( "Building Your Water-Positive Data Center Roadmap: A Step-By-Step Implementation Guide")
The data center industry stands at a critical juncture. As facilities scale to meet exponential computing demands, water consumption has emerged as a defining operational challenge. Traditional approaches focused on water efficiency are no longer sufficient. -
![pregnantwater_Getty-2241371016]( "PFAS In Pregnant Women's Drinking Water Puts Their Babies At Higher Risk, Study Finds")
When pregnant women drink water that comes from wells downstream of sites contaminated with PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” the risks to their babies’ health substantially increase, a new study found. These risks include the chance of low birth weight, preterm birth, and infant mortality.
DRINKING WATER VIDEOS
The Western Governors' Drought Forum webinar “Once Marginal, Now Crucial: The Growing Demand for Re-used, Produced, and Brackish Water” explores the technological and regulatory obstacles to utilizing re-used, produced, and brackish water.
Discover how specialized restrained joints facilitate efficient horizontal directional drilling and bridge piping through a simplified, tool-free assembly process that ensures long-term reliability in challenging environments.
Discover how integrated membrane system designs can maximize the operating stability of EDI systems and reduce mixed bed regeneration frequency.
ABOUT DRINKING WATER
In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:
- Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
- Drinking water treatment of source water
- Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers
Drinking Water Sources
Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater.
Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.
Drinking Water Treatment
Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.
There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.
The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.
The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.
During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.
Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.
Drinking Water Distribution
Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.
A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.
Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.